EUGENIC AND DYSGENIC EFFECTS OF WAR 239 



effected by the death caused by war factors unless they be placed in rela- 

 tion with the data on the characters of the dead soldiers as compared with 

 those of the survivors. 



Furthermore, in order to judge the selective effects of mortality during 

 the war period on the hereditary qualities of the population, it is indispen- 

 sable also to take into account the death-rate of the civil population. Hersch 

 has calculated that, in the whole world, during the Great War, the surplus 

 losses of the civil population were more than double the amount of losses 

 suffered by the military population. In fact, the number of deaths among 

 service men was 13,000,000, whereas the surplus of civilian deaths amounted 

 to 29,000,000. The importance of the two categories of losses varies greatly 

 from country to country. In Europe the two categories balance, each having 

 12,500,000 dead. In France, England, and Germany the military losses 

 were higher than those of the civilians ; in other countries the converse was 

 true. 



As regards physical endurance, I think it may be stated that the selection 

 effected among the soldiers during the war period has an unfavorable effect 

 from the eugenic point of view in as much as it is determined by the rejec- 

 tion of the unfit at the time of the enlistment; an unfavorable effect also, in 

 comparison with the general population, in as much as it is determined by 

 the mortality due to wounds. On the other hand, it has a favorable effect 

 in comparison with the surviving soldiers in as much as it is determined 

 among the soldiers by the mortality due to sickness, but it is uncertain 

 whether it has a favorable or unfavorable effect in comparison with the 

 general population; finally, it has a favorable effect in as much as it is 

 determined by the excess of mortality within the civil population. 



We must keep in mind, with regard to what is said above, that the con- 

 tribution to the war losses made by the wounded and the sick, by the com- 

 batants, the men assigned to territorial service, and the civilians, by the 

 soldiers and the officers, and, among the latter, by those belonging to the 

 various ranks, not only may vary greatly from one belligerent to another in 

 the same war, as was the case in the World War, but do actually vary greatly 

 from war to war. In the last war the European armies suffered a percentage 

 of deaths due to wounds of the total losses much higher than in past wars. 

 Data on this subject were gathered for America by Col. Love with regard to 

 the last war. Data for Italy and other countries both for the last and 

 previous wars may be found in papers published by Prof. Gini and by Profs. 

 Gini and Livi. 





